Keeper of the Flame
Creature — Human Wizard
, 
: Choose target opponent who has more life than you do as you activate this ability. This creature deals 2 damage to that player.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Exodus
- Price
- $0.21
- EDHREC rank
- #29331
Keeper of the Flame turns any opponent's creature sacrifice into a Shock — free, repeatable, and requiring zero setup beyond having enemies who lose things. The cost is that it does nothing in a vacuum: no creatures dying means no damage, so it lives or dies by the table state.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is where Keeper of the Flame earns its slot — a four-player table means roughly three times the sacrifice triggers compared to a one-on-one game, and Aristocrats or sacrifice-themed decks generate a constant stream of them. In Legacy and Vintage it's legal but essentially invisible; the formats are too fast and too interactive for a passive pinger that needs opponents to lose creatures before it does anything. Oathbreaker mirrors Commander's dynamic at a smaller scale, so the same token-heavy and sacrifice-heavy shells that want it there want it here too.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.21 bulk tier
At $0.21, Keeper of the Flame is deep bulk — you're not paying a premium for anything here. Bulk rares with niche applications rarely climb unless a breakout deck adopts them, so grab a copy when you need it and don't think twice about the cost.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.